Baseball Headed to Miami

The two-time Ivy League champion Dartmouth baseball team (26-17) is headed to Florida to play host Miami (40-17) in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship at Alex Rodriguez Park this Friday at 4 p.m.

The game is expected to be carried on ESPNU.

The other teams in the regional are Texas A&M (40-19-1) and Florida International (36-23).

It is a double-elimination format:

June 4
Game 1 - FIU vs. Texas A&M, 12 p.m.
Game 2 - Dartmouth vs. Miami, 4 p.m.
June 5
Game 3 - Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 12 p.m.
Game 4 - Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 4 p.m.
June 6
Game 5 - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser, 12 p.m.
Game 6 - Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 4 p.m.
June 7
Game 7 - If necessary, 7 p.m.

*

Walking outside this morning my first reaction was that a neighbor must be burning brush. But driving into town for Dartmouth's Selection Show party it became clear that, well, the sky wasn't clear. Turns out the smoke has floated down from Quebec, where fire is raging out of control.

From the Boston Globe:

The National Weather Service says smoke from dozens of fires that are burning in southern Quebec had spread south and east across much of Maine and New Hampshire and northeast Vermont on Sunday. Today, the smoke could be smelled and seen all the way to Cape Cod. The smoke had reduced the visibility to about three miles in places, and the smell of smoke was strong across the region.

Speaking of Schedules

2010 schedules for Dartmouth and its opponents:

BROWN
Sep. 18 STONY BROOK
Sep. 25 HARVARD *
Oct. 2 at Rhode Island
Oct. 9 at Holy Cross
Oct. 16 at Princeton *
Oct. 23 CORNELL *
Oct. 30 at Penn *
Nov. 6 YALE *
Nov. 13 at Dartmouth *
Nov. 20 COLUMBIA *

COLUMBIA
Sep. 18 FORDHAM
Sep. 25 TOWSON
Oct .02 PRINCETON *
Oct. 9 LAFAYETTE
Oct. 16 at Penn *
Oct .23 DARTMOUTH *
Oct 30 at Yale*
Nov. 6 at Harvard *
Nov. 13 CORNELL *
Nov. 20 at Brown *

CORNELL
Sep. 18 at Wagner
Sep. 25 YALE*
Oct. 2 at Bucknell
Oct. 9 at Harvard*
Oct. 16 COLGATE
Oct. 23 at Brown*
Oct. 30 PRINCETON*
Nov. 6 DARTMOUTH*
Nov. 13 at Columbia*
Nov. 20 PENN*

DARTMOUTH
Sep. 18 at Bucknell
Sep. 25 SACRED HEART
Oct. 2 at Penn*
Oct. 9 YALE*
Oct. 16 HOLY CROSS
Oct. 23 at Columbia*
Oct. 30 HARVARD*
Nov. 6 at Cornell*
Nov. 13 BROWN*
Nov. 20 at Princeton*

HARVARD
Sep. 18 HOLY CROSS
Sep. 25 at Brown*
Oct. 2 at Lafayette
Oct. 9 CORNELL*
Oct. 16 LEHIGH
Oct. 23 at Princeton*
Oct. 30 at Dartmouth*
Nov. 6 COLUMBIA*
Nov. 13 at Penn*
Nov. 20 YALE*

PENN
Sep. 18 LAFAYETTE
Sep. 25 at Villanova
Oct. 2 DARTMOUTH*
Oct. 9 at Bucknell
Oct. 16 COLUMBIA*
Oct. 23 at Yale*
Oct. 30 BROWN*
Nov. 6 at Princeton*
Nov. 13 HARVARD*
Nov. 20 at Cornell*

PRINCETON
Sep. 18 at Lehigh
Sep. 25 LAFAYETTE
Oct. 2 at Columbia*
Oct. 9 COLGATE
Oct. 16 BROWN*
Oct. 23 HARVARD*
Oct. 30 at Cornell*
Nov. 6 PENN*
Nov. 13 at Yale*
Nov. 20 DARTMOUTH*

YALE
Sep. 18 GEORGETOWN
Sep. 25 at Cornell*
Oct. 2 ALBANY
Oct. 9 at Dartmouth*
Oct. 16 FORDHAM
Oct. 23 PENN*
Oct. 30 COLUMBIA*
Nov. 6 at Brown*
Nov. 13 PRINCETON*
Nov. 20 at Harvard*

Non-Conference
BUCKNELL
Sep. 4 at Duquesne
Sep. 11 at Marist
Sept. 18 DARTMOUTH
Oct. 2 CORNELL
Oct. 9 PENN
Oct. 16 at Georgetown*
Oct. 23 at Lehigh*
Oct. 30 LAFAYETTE*
Nov. 6 FORDHAM*
Nov. 13 COLGATE*
Nov. 20 at Holy Cross*

SACRED HEART
Sep. 3 at Marist
Sep. 11 ROBERT MORRIS*
Sep. 18 at St. Francis*
Sep. 25 at Dartmouth
Oct. 2 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT*
Oct. 9 at Bryant*
Oct. 16 at Duquesne*
Oct. 23 GEORGETOWN
Oct. 30 at Monmouth*
Nov. 6 ALBANY*
Nov. 13 –
Nov. 20 WAGNER*

HOLY CROSS
Sep. 4 HOWARD
Sep. 11 at Massachusetts
Sep. 18 at Harvard
Sep. 25 at Georgetown*
Oct. 2 FORDHAM*
Oct. 9 BROWN
Oct. 16 at Dartmouth
Oct. 23 at Colgate*
Nov. 6 LEHIGH*
Nov. 13 at Lafayette *
Nov. 20 BUCKNELL*

* – Conference games

NOTES – Columbia and Princeton both have six home games and four on the road. ... The Lions open the season with four in a row at Wien Stadium and have five of their first six at home. On the flip side, they play the recent "iron" of the Ivy all on the road, with challenging games at defending champion Penn, at Harvard and at Brown. They also play at Yale, meaning that all their road opponents have won at least one Ivy League title since 2006. ... Penn is the only school to alternate home and away games throughout the season. ... New Princeton coach Bob Surace opens on the road but then has four of his next five games at home. ... New Cornell coach Kent Austin has three of his first four games on the road. ... Among Dartmouth's non-conference opponents, Bucknell has six home games to five on the road while Holy Cross and Sacred Heart have six road games to five at home.

*

The inspiring story of Harvard running back Cheng Ho's journey from Taiwan to Georgia to Cambridge has been told before, but a Harvard Gazette piece about his off-the-field contributions to the Crimson sports scene is worth reading.

*

The Dartmouth baseball team finds out its NCAA fate when the Selection Show airs on ESPN HD at 12:30 p.m. today. The Big Green will end up at one of the 16 regional sites, listed here with the host schools:

Atlanta (Georgia Tech); Auburn, Ala. (Auburn); Charlottesville, Va. (Virginia); Columbia, S.C. (South Carolina); Fayetteville, Ark. (Arkansas); Fort Worth, Texas (TCU); Fullerton, Calif. (Cal State Fullerton); Gainesville, Fla. (Florida); Louisville, Ky. (Louisville); Los Angeles (UCLA); Miami, Fla. (Miami); Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Coastal Carolina); Norman, Okla. (Oklahoma); Norwich, Conn. (Connecticut); Tempe, Ariz. (Arizona State).

*

That Certain Hanover High Senior's relay team finished third of 131 women's teams yesterday at the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon & Marathon Relay up in Burlington. They called their team PFA, or People from Far Away. Captaining the team was Brown-bound standout Heidi Caldwell, whose dad Tim '77 was a four-time Olympic skier for Dartmouth.

On the Receiving End

Back on May 2 we took a look at the top returning quarterback for each team on the Dartmouth schedule. Today we'll list the top returning pass catcher for each team in terms of total receptions in 2009.

(The number before the names are where that player ranked on his team. Also, this is compiled without knowing what players might have a fifth year of eligibility.)

Top Returning Pass Catchers for Ivy League Teams

Brown
4. WR Matthew Sudfield (29-205, 1 TD)

Columbia
3. TE Andrew Kennedy (21-316, 5 TD)

Cornell
2. WR Shane Savage (42-371, 2 TD)

Dartmouth
1. Tanner Scott (45-510, 3 TD)

Harvard
1. WR Chris Lorditch (30-545, 5 TD)

Penn
2. WR Matt Tuten (29-379, 2 TD)

Princeton
1. WR Trey Peacock (48-527, 3 TD)

Yale
2. WR Peter Balsam (33-321, 2 TD)

Notes: Princeton has its top seven pass catchers back. ... Dartmouth has either its top seven or top eight back depending on whether Niles Murphy returns for a fifth year. ... Missing from the Dartmouth list is Timmy McManus, who missed last season with a broken leg but led the Big Green with 60 catches for 637 yards and three touchdowns two years ago and is pencilled in at wide receiver again. ... Harvard has its top four back. ... Brown took the biggest hit with the loss of Buddy Farnham, Bobby Sewall and Trevan Samp.

2009 Ivy League Receiving Leaders (catches):
(Returnees in color)

1. Buddy Farnham, Brown, 74
2. Bobby Sewall, Brown, 66
3. John Sheffield, Yale, 61
4. Austin Knowlin, Columbia, 53
5. Bryan Walters, Cornell, 50
6. Trey Peacock, Princeton, 48
7. Tanner Scott, Dartmouth, 45
8. Shane Savage, Cornell, 42
9. Trevan Samp, Brown, 41
10. Michael Reilly, Dartmouth, 38

Receiving Leaders for Dartmouth's Non-Conference Opponents

Bucknell
3. RB/WR Marlon Woods (18-178, 1 TD)

Sacred Heart
2. WR Rich Rossi (35-313, 1 TD)

Holy Cross
1. Luke Chmielinski (63-807, 4 TD)

Notable: Sacred heart lost leading receiver Steve Tedesco, whose 67 catches included a whopping 11 of the Pioneers' 17 touchdown receptions. ... Holy Cross brings back its top five pass catchers. They accounted for 223 receptions last year. Gone, of course, is the guy who was on the throwing end, quarterback Dominic Randolph.

*

That Certain Hanover High Senior is in Burlington, Vt., today for the Vermont City Marathon & Relay as her team tries to defend the relay title it won in the race last year. Actually, they've moved up from the junior girls relay so they won't really be defending. ... She got her summer training plan from her new college coach this week and needs to average 55 miles per week to reach her goal ... not an easy thing to do when you are going to be away all summer working as a camp counselor.

Three Weeks and Counting Until Tee Time

A reminder that the Dartmouth Friend of Football Golf Classic is set for three weeks from today at Hanover Country Club. There's still time to sign up. For more information and a link to the brochure for the event, click here. For photos from previous FOF Golf Classics, click here.

*

Craig Haley over at The Sports Network is continuing his series on the Top 10 players in various areas of the field. His latest is the Top 10 defensive backs and while I didn't expect Shawn Abuhoff to make the list, the Dartmouth junior-to-be should find himself at least in the conversation a year from now if he can have another big season.

Abuhoff had three interceptions, five pass breakups and 43 tackles as a freshman. Last fall he was the only sophomore named to the All-New England team after intercepting three more passes and ranking fifth in the country with 14 passes defended in 10 games. He had 41 tackles, two forced fumbles and one blocked kick.

A member of the All-Ivy League second team as a sophomore, Abuhoff was also a weapon on special teams, finishing 18th in the nation in kickoff return average and needing just one more punt return to finish 24th in the country in that category.

For what it's worth, the only Ivy League player mentioned in the Top 10 FCS defensive backs story wears Crimson. He doesn't make the Top 10 cut but after an intro about one player Haley introduces the rest of them this way:

With apologies to players like William & Mary cornerback B.W. Webb, Harvard free safety Colin Zych and Tennessee State strong safety Eugene Clifford, here are the other nine players in the Top 10.

Speaking of The Sports Network's Top 10 lists ...

• Find TSN's Top 10 Defensive Linemen here.
• For the top running backs, click here.
• The TSN's top linebackers are here.
• The Top 10 quarterbacks, a list that includes Brown's Kyle Newhall-Caballero and UNH's RJ Toman (who is in a battle to hold the starting job), can be found here.
• Craig's take on the top linemen is here.

*

Andrew Seidman was a 6-foot-2, 195-pound running back from Lake Oswego, Ore., who was a freshman on the 2005 team before giving up football and turning his attention to another game – poker. (See last June's BGA blog for more.) Following up on a Roar Lions Roar post about a former Columbia player who turned to poker, I found a player profile for Seidman on the I Am Ranked site.

Enjoy the long weekend.

Shula, Shula Everywhere

The most famous coaching tree in football continues to branch out, thanks to former Dartmouth wide receiver (and Cincinnati Bengals head coach) David Shula '81 and wife Leslie '81. Their son Chris, a three-year letterwinner as a linebacker at Miami University, has been named a graduate assistant coach at Ball State.

Dan Shula '06, David and Leslie's oldest son, is an offensive assistant at Illinois State after serving as a grad assistant first at Alabama and later with the Miami Hurricanes. A former Dartmouth quarterback, Dan made David and Leslie grandparents with the birth of son Logan more than a year ago. (No word – yet – on where the newest Shula will end up coaching.)

While we're at it ...

David's brother Mike, the former head coach at Alabama, is the quarterbacks coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Oh, and David's son Matt is a former defensive lineman at Lafayette. No word yet on whether he's in the family business, and no, we're not talking about Shula's, the upscale steakhouses that David oversees.

The forefather of the Shula Coaching Tree of course is Don Shula, who has the most wins in NFL history at 347.

*

Today's Daily Dartmouth takes a look at workouts for Big Green football players who will be on campus for their sophomore summer.

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The Daily Pennsylvanian has a story about the new George A. Weiss Pavilion at Franklin Field. The story is a reminder that the "Facilities Wars," never seem to stop. One Penn coach calls the new facility, "arguably the top weight room in the country." From the story:

With two running tracks spanning the entire room, state-of-the-art equipment — including 30 weightlifting racks, 40 LifeFitness machines and 18 heavy bags for kickboxing — and, most importantly, 18,600 square feet of space, the new weight room opens up a variety of training possibilities. ...

... The old weight room, located a floor above the new one, encompassed 4,500 square feet of space. With four times that in the new facility, multiple teams can work out at once so scheduling is no longer a “nightmare,” according to (Strength and Conditioning Manager Jim) Steel.

*

The link to Mike Shula's bio turned up another familiar name at Jacksonville. Turns out the linebacker coach for the Jaguars is none other than former Holy Cross (and Maryland) head coach Mark Duffner. At Holy Cross Duffner had a 60-5-1 record between 1986 and 1991. His worst record: 9-2.

*

Dartmouth baseball coach Bob Whalen does a fine job in a Dartmouth podcast talking about his team repeating as Ivy League champion, breaking the Big Green record for career wins and the importance of Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park.

*

Plagiarism by an Ivy League valedictorian in his Class Day speech? Find a story in the Columbia Spectator.

*

The high school softball season is over for the Hanover varsity, but That Certain Hanover High Senior was invited by the junior varsity coach to coach third base today when the jayvees complete their schedule. I just hope she doesn't have one of the javvers try a delayed steal of home.

While she's in the coaching box That Certain Sophomore will be in the batter's box one field over as the jv baseball team wraps up the season with a doubleheader. He took a ball in the back of the helmet ducking a wayward pitch last time out and it will be interesting to see how he reacts to that first curve today. Hopefully he'll bounce back better than his old man, who was never the same hitter after taking a fastball to the ribs that resulted in a trip to the hospital.

Opponent Recruiting

With Brown announcing its recruiting class, six of the 10 teams Dartmouth will face this fall have now released the names of their incoming players. They are:

BROWN
Samuel Artenstein, OL, 6-3, 285, Pawtucket, RI, The Moses Brown School
Daniel Austin, OL, 6-3 270, Franklin, TN , Phillips Academy
Matthew Billeci, DB, 5-9 175, Laguna Niguel, CA, Mater Dei
John Bumpus, DL, 6-3 220, Concord, MA, Concord-Carlisle HS
Jordan Evans, WR, 6-0 170, Brentwood, TN,Brentwood HS
Davis Feder, LB, 6-1 237, Woodstock, GA,The Walker School
Matthew Gorham, TE, 6-2 200, Chesire, CT, Cheshire HS
Bradley Herzlich, LB, 6-3, 195, Wayne, PA,Conestoga HS
Dillon Ingham, FB, 6-2 230, Fulton, NY, G Ray Bodley HS
Zachary Lattrell, LB, 6-1 205, West Newbury, MA, Central Catholic HS
Andrew Marks, TE, 6-3 235, Berlin, WI, Berlin HS
Ryan McCourt, OL, 6-4 275, Scituate, MA,Boston College HS
Nicholas Mizaur, RB, 5-11 195, Omaha, NE,Creighton Prep
Alexander Norocea, K, 5-11 165, Hermosa Beach, CA,Mira Costa HS
Adewole Oyalowo, LB, 5-8 190, Bowie, MD,Woodberry Forest School
Clayton Paino, OL, 6-3 270, Tarpon Springs, FL,Tarpon Springs HS
Alexander Phelan, QB, 6-1 185, Walpole, MA, Xaverian Brothers HS
Brett Polacek, DL, 6-6 250, Providence, RI,Moses Brown School,Hotchkiss School
Emory Polley, DB, 5-9 165, University Heights, OH,Cleveland Heights HS
Jordan Reisner, RB, 6-1 205, Highland Park, IL, Highland Park HS
Matthew Shannon, DB, 6-0 175, Mayfield Heights, OH, Mayfield HS
Donald Sproal, TE, 6-4 230, Yorba Linda, CA, Valencia HS
Nathan Svensson, OL, 6-4 250, Provo, UT, Timpview HS
Cody Taulbee, FB, 6-0 235, Kettering, OH, Archbishop Alter HS
Thomas Usakiewicz, DB, 5-10 175, Suffield, CT , Suffield Academy
Michael Yules, DE, 6-4 240, South Dartmouth, MA, The Moses Brown School

HARVARD
Zak Aossey, LB, 6-1,220, Austin, TX, JB Connally
Blake Barker, TE, 6-5,230, Wellesley, MA.,Buckingham Browne & Nichols
Andrew Berg, WR, 5-11,190, Los Gatos, CA., Los Gatos
Jake Boy, DE, 6-3,218, Royers, PA., Moniteau
Cameron Brate, DE, 6-6,230, Naperville, IL., Naperville Central
Cory Briggs, QB, 6-3,205, Selinsgrove, PA, Selinsgrove Area
John Campbell, WR, 6-1,170, Eugene, OR, Sheldon
Tyler Caveness, RB,DB, 5-9,185, Roanoke, VA, North Cross
Jack Dittmer, DE, 6-3,245, Oak Park, IL, Fenwick
Nick Easton, OL, 6-3,280, Lenoir, NC, Hibriten
Bisi Ezekoye, RB, 6-0,185, Silver Spring, MD, John F. Kennedy
Danny Frate, LB, 6-2,220, Bentleyville, OH, University
Michael Hirsch, FB, 6-1,230, Glenview, IL, Glenbrook South
Rey Kirton, DB, 6-2,200, Weston, FL, St. Thomas Aquinas
Connor Loftus, LB, 6-2,220, Glen Ellyn, IL, Glenbard West
Colton Lynch, DB, 5-10,170, Cape Coral, FL, Evangelical Christian School
David Leopard, OL, 6-2,250, Anthony, Fla.,Trinity Catholic
Matt Martindale, LB, 5-10,200, Laguna Hills, CA, Laguna Hills
David Mathander, K, 6-3,195, San Juan Capistrano, CA, Phillips Exeter Acad. (NH)
Scott Miller, WR, 6-1,175, Egg Harbor Township, NJ, Sierra Vista
Tyler Ott, TE, 6-3,245, Tulsa, OK, Jenks
Michael Pruneau, QB, 6-4,190, Plano, TX, Plano West
Parker Sebastian, OL, 6-5,250, Atlanta, GA, The Lovette School
Austin Scheufele, OL, 6-4,285, Lafayette, CO, Centaurus
Chris Splinter, WR,DB, 5-11,175, Middleton, MA, Masconomet
Austin Taylor, DE, 6-1,220, Sugar Land, TX, Clements
Khani Tshishiku, DB, 5-10,190, Martinez, GA, Lakeside
Damani Wilson, RB, 5-9,175, Carson, CA, Lutheran
Jaron Wilson, DB, 5-9,180, Carmichael, CA, Del Campo
Luke Zelon, LB, 6-3,225, Santa Monica, CA, Santa Monica
Ricky Zorn, QB,DB, 6-0,180, Dallas, TX, Lake Highlands

PENN
Aaron Bailey, WR, 5-9 185, Brownstown, MI, Woodhaven
Ryan Becker, QB, 6-0 205, Davie, FL, St. Thomas Aquinas
Christian Bersani, OL, 6-4 260, Syracuse, NY, Christian Brothers Academy
Christopher Bush, OL, 6-3 245, Westwood, NJ, Bergen Catholic
Howard Crippen, DB, 5-10 180, Clawson, MI, Clawson
Josh Drum, TE, 6-5 225, Hoover, AL, Spain Park
Tosan Eyetsemitan, DE, 6-1 205, Lincoln, RI, Moses Brown School
Harrison Furse, LB, 6-1 225, Wilmette, IL, New Trier
Anthony Greco, LB, 6-1 220, Scottsdale, AZ, Notre Dame Preparatory
Joey Grosso, LB, 6-0 215,Lighthouse Point, FL, Pope John Paul II
Tyler Hamilton,QB, 6-1 190, Wycombe, PA, Council Rock North
Evan Jackson, DB, 6-0 195, Hamden, CT, Choate Rosemary Hall
Sebastian Jaskowski, DB, 6-0 195, Moorestown, NJ, Moorestown
Alex Kahn, DL, 6-3 250, San Clemente, CA, San Clemente
Kris Martin, DB, 5-10 185, Fairfax, VA, Chantilly
Sean McGinn, OL, 6-4 270, West Chester, PA, St. Joseph's Prep
Ryan Mitchell, WR, 6-0 180, La Grange Park, IL, Lyons Township
David Park, LB, 6-2 215, Buford, GA, North Gwinnett
Matt Rea, DL, 6-2 245, Rochester, MI, Rochester Adams
Jake Schwertner, OL, 6-5 275, Hinckley, OH, St. Edward
Conner Scott, WR, 6-4 190, Kenilworth, IL, Deerfield Academy
Josh Scott, RB, 6-1 210, Newton, MA, Milton Academy
Eric Smith, DL, 6-3 250, Warren, MI, De La Salle
Mason Smith, RB, 6-2 195, Satellite Beach, FL, Satellite
Steve Szostak, OL, 6-2 265, Fort Washington, PA, La Salle College
Dan Wilk, DB, 6-0 175, Bethlehem, PA, Nazareth

PRINCETON
Robert Basile, LB, 6-1 210, Quakertown, PA, Quakertown
Phillip Bhaya, DB, 5-11 190, Haddonfield, NJ, Haddonfield
Connor Clegg, DL, 6-6 235, Chagrin Falls, OH, Chagrin Falls
Max Coale, OL, 6-4 255, Highland, MD, River Hill
Dillon Farley, WR, 6-4 195, Keller, TX, Keller
Dan Freund, DB, 6-0 185, St. Paul, MN, St. Thomas Academy
Joe Goss, OL, 6-2 260, Massapequa, NY, Chaminade
Mark Holekamp, WR, 5-10 165, St. Louis, MO, Mary Institute C.D.S.
Malik Jackson, QB, 6-4 215, Jacksonville, FL, Ribault
Taylor James, DB, 6-1 175, Davie, FL, University
Connor Kelly, QB, 6-1 195, Batesville, IN, Batesville
Cameron Koziara, DL, 6-3 240, Newport Beach, CA, Newport Harbor
Max Leonesio, RB, 5-11 195, Paradise Valley, AZ, Brophy Prep
Parker Mack, OL, 6-5 305, Little Rock, AR, Pulaski Academy
Michael Major, OL, 6-5 325, Tulsa, OK, Bishop Kelley
John Ed McGee, WR, 5-9 160, Houston, TX, Kinkaid
Brian Mills, RB, 5-10 185, Edmond, OK, Edmond Santa Fe
Elijah Mitchell, DB, 6-2 190, Las Vegas, NV, Desert Oasis
Taylor Pearson, OL, 6-5 285, Allen, TX, Allen
Alex Polofsky, LB, 6-0 215, Matthews, NC,Butler
Chris Pondo, TE, 6-3 230, Monroeville, NJ,Delsea
Jason Ray, LB, 6-2 215, Clarkston, MI, Detroit C.D.S.
Joseph Robin, DL, 6-3 240, Vestavia Hills, AL,Vestavia Hills
Tommy Sedeski, WR, 5-9 180, Sterling, VA, Park View
Andrew Shafer, TE, 6-5 255, Raleigh, NC,ardinal Gibbons
Matthew Strauser, LB, 6-1 235, Champaign, IL, St. Thomas More
Michael Willis, OL, 6-4 300, Rutherford, NJ,Rutherford
Roman Wilson, WR, 5-11 185, Broken Arrow, OK, Lincoln Christian
Lawrence Zietz, RB, 6-2 220, Clio, MI,.M. Powers Catholic

Non-League
HOLY CROSS
Gary Acquah, DE, 6-2, 235, Bronx, NY, Mount St. Michael Academy
Pete Anastasio, LB, 6-1, 215, Camp Hill, PA, Camp Hill HS
Joe Bell, DE, 6-4, 220, Lowell, IN, Lowell Senior HS
Blake Berresford, OL, 6-5, 285, Montoursville, PA, Montoursville Area HS
Matthew Boyd, DT, 6-3, 250, Dallas, TX, Bishop Lynch HS
Mike Chieco, OL, 6-5, 290, South Hadley, MA, South Hadley HS
Mike Fess, WR, 6-0, 175, Caldwell, NJ, James Caldwell HS
Philip Gough, DB, 5-11, 175, Hinsdale, IL, Fenwick HS
Chris Higgins, DB, 5-11, 170, Miramar, FL, Pine Crest School
Kyle Holland, OL, 6-3, 265, Old Forge, PA, Old Forge HS
Daryl Howell, DE, 6-1, 232, Richmond, VA, Hermitage HS
Jimmy Jordan, WR, 6-4, 190, Fort Lauderdale, FL., Pine Crest School
Michael Kastel, DE, 6-8, 225, St. Charles, IL, St. Charles North HS
Jake Keller, OL, 6-3, 258, Cincinnati, OH, La Salle HS
Jay Knighton, DT, 6-2, 265, Pottstown, PA, Hill School
Max Librizzi, QB, 6-5, 220, Essex Junction, VT, Essex HS
John Macomber, PK, 5-11, 200, Vienna, VA, Georgetown Prep School
Brendan McGovern, LB, 6-0, 230, Oradell, NJ, Bergen Catholic HS
Emanuel Mendoza, OL, 6-6, 290, Bronx, NY, Cardinal Hayes HS
Mike Mirabella, LB, 6-0, 219, Tampa, FL, H.B. Plant HS
Scotty O'Donoghue, LB, 5-11, 205, Tampa, FL, Sickles HS
Irvin Scott, DB, 6-1, 180, Brookline, MA, Brookline HS
George Sessoms, DB, 5-11, 190, Peabody, MA, St. John's Prep School
Jon Smith, WR, 6-3, 185, Matawan, NJ, Matawan Regional HS
Ross Smith, WR, 6-2, 185, Lewis Center, OH, Olentangy Orange HS
Nate Stanley, WR, 6-2, 205, Euclid, OH, St. Edward HS
Mike Tucker, DE, 6-2, 240, Chester Springs, PA, Downingtown East HS
Michael White, DT, 6-1, 280, Indianapolis, IN, Brebeuf Jesuit Prep School
Reggie Woods, RB, 5-10, 191, Bowie, MD, C.H. Flowers HS
Tyler Zeoli, LB, 6-1, 220, King of Prussia, PA, Upper Merion Area HS
Andrew Zitnik, DB, 5-11, 175, Warren, OH, Warren G. Harding HS

SACRED HEART
Alex Aitkens, DB, 6-0, 190, Wood Ridge, NJ, St. Joseph Regional HS
Robert Dim, WR, 6-1, 190, Sicklerville, NJ, Washington Township HS
Mike Geraghty, DE,TE, 6-6, 255, Falling Waters, WV, Valley Forge Military Academy
Zach Greenwald, LB, 6-2, 225, Gibbstown, NJ, Paulsboro HS
Casey Hippert, TE, 6-3, 230, Douglas, MA, Northbridge HS
Jamie Martinez, OL, 6-4, 340, Brooklyn, NY, Xaverian HS
Rickey Moore, Jr., WR, 5-10, 180, Springfield, MA, Wilbraham & Monson HS
Brett Parenteau, WR, 6-2, 195, Manchester, NH, Bridgton Academy
Tino Perrina, RB, 6-0, 195, Reading, MA, Reading Memorial HS
Ben Proulx, DE, 6-4, 225, Hampstead, NH, Pinkerton Academy
Justin Sexton, LB,LS, 6-2, 210, Murrieta, CA., Murrieta Valley HS
Steven Tellefsen, DB, 6-1, 180, Weston, FL, Cypress Bay HS
C.J. Trieb, OL, 6-5, 315, Chester, NH, Pinkerton Academy
Jeff Nossek, OL/LS, 6-2, 260, New London, CT, St. Bernard School
Chris Rogers, PK, 5-10, 160, Cazenovia, NY, Cazenovia HS

*

That Certain Hanover High Senior finished her high school athletic career with a bang in yesterday's doubleheader loss. She had her team's only hit in the opener, drilled her second homer in the last four games in her first trip to the plate in the nightcap, and then got the final hit of her career when she switched around and dropped down a perfect drag bunt left-handed. She ended up playing every inning of every game over her four years, starting in centerfield as a freshman and as catcher the next three years.

Of Big Guys and Buckeyes

As a safety at Dartmouth Peter Pidermann didn't have a chance to go up against players from big-time programs like Ohio State and Arizona. He'll have that opportunity when he plays rugby for Dartmouth in the USA 7s Collegiate Championship Invitational tournament, which is set for the Columbus Crew stadium Jun 4-6. From a story pulled together by Rugby Magazine:

Several teams have succeeded in getting some crossover athletes – most from football. The one turning heads perhaps is Nate Ebner, who left rugby to play football for Ohio State, and is back with the OSU 7s team. Ebner has brought a football teammate, with JJ Emmenecker also stepping on for the Buckeyes.

Brett Thompson at Arizona is another example of a rugby player now playing football and back to 7s.

The story also includes this ...

Dartmouth has recruited Peter Pidermann a free safety on the Dartmouth football team, while Harvard brought in former 400-meter runner George Eggars and former judo specialist Dan Oshima. Oshima played in a warmup tournament and was a huge surprise.

For an earlier note about Pidermann's rugby debut and football future, click here.

Speaking of Big Green seniors, former quarterback Alex Jenny is mentioned in his local press for being honored by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame 2010 NFF Hampshire Honor Society. (Link)

Although he doesn't have the football pedigree of his predecessor Hank Paulson '68, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner '83 doesn't mind mixing it up on the basketball court. Bloomberg News has a story with a Dartmouth mention toward the end.

A defensive end hoping to lead his high school to its third state championship in a row next fall has heard from Dartmouth and Army according to a note in the Tulsa World. Oklahoma, in case you haven't been paying attention, has become a fertile recruiting ground for the Big Green since former Sooner receiving great JJ Jackson joined the coaching staff.

It's long (almost nine minutes) but at least take a peek at the Penn website video extolling the virtues of its new George A. Weiss Pavilion weight and strength training facility built under the arches of Franklin Field.

Harvard coach Tim Murphy is overseas visiting military personnel on the Coaches Tour 2010 organized by the USO/Morale Entertainment/Armed Forces Entertainment. He is sending back missives for a blog of sorts. Find an entry here, another here, and a third here.

One of the advantages Colgate reaps from trading Dartmouth for Syracuse on its 2010 football schedule is an incentive for fans to buy season tickets. From a Colgate release:

As a bonus for purchasing a season ticket package, the Colgate Athletic ticket office will include one (1) ticket to the Colgate vs. Syracuse football game on September 25 at the Carrier Dome. This will be the first time that your Raiders will be facing a FBS school since 2003, and also the first time that Colgate will be facing Syracuse since 1987.

For reasons regular visitors to this electronic neighborhood should understand, after reading that blurb I wondered what the deal was for Colgate students regarding the Syracuse game. Looking for the answer I clicked on the 'Gate ticket brochure. That didn't answer my question but it did enlighten me as to what one school is doing to try to encourage season ticket sales.

The brochure notes that season ticket holders will receive the following benefits, "a total value of more than $200:"

• One (1) ticket to the Colgate vs. Syracuse football game at the Carrier Dome on September 25th ($25 value)
• Free Parking Pass ($20 value)
• One game program for each home weekend ($20 value)
• Preseason BBQ with the Colgate football team players and coaches on Friday, August 27th at 5:00 p.m at Andy Kerr Stadium. ($30 value)
• Entered into a raffle for a chance to win two (2) sideline passes to a
• selected Colgate Football home game (TBD) ($30 value)
• Entered into a raffle for a chance to win two (2) tickets to the Colgate
• Football’s “End of the Year’ banquet (February, 2011) ($50 value)
• One Flex Pass good for general admission (per order) to any 15 home regular-season men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s hockey, and men’s lacrosse games. ($75 value)
• Two (2) general admission tickets (per order) to the men’s ice hockey
• games versus Niagara, on Dec. 11th, 2010 ($12 value)
• Priority Status for purchasing tickets to away Colgate and NCAA playoff games.

I know Colgate has struggled in recent years to put, um, seats in the seats despite a terrific product. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

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And finally, That Certain Hanover High Senior has her final high school sports event today, a softball doubleheader at Laconia. Four years really have gone by like a flash.

That Certain Colgate University Freshman has a nice ring to it.

Another Award for Tanner Scott

At Dartmouth's Celebration of Athletic Excellence wide receiver Tanner Scott was awarded The Class of 1948 Award as the male athlete in the junior class who has combined, "outstanding performance in athletics and significant achievement in academics." An economics major, Scott began his football career as a walk-on before leading the Big Green last fall with 45 catches for 510 yards and earning a spot on the All-Ivy honorable mention team. Find a story about the year-end awards here.

Monday's BGA blog noted that Penn has been tapped 13th in Athlon magazine's preseason poll. A release about the Quaker recruiting class gives an indication why Penn will be a popular choice to defend its championship this fall:

Penn returns 42 letterwinners for 2010, including 15 starters and 11 All-Ivy honorees. Eight starters will return on offense, five starters are back from the nation's top-ranked defense, and both specialists will return.

The release points out that the Penn Class of 2014 stands a very good chance of leaving West Philly with a championship ring if history holds:

In 15 of the previous 17 recruiting classes under Bagnoli – the winningest Ivy League coach of all-time (71.4%) – the unit has left with a minimum of one Ivy League championship ring. The Class of 2013 didn't have to wait long for theirs as they won the Ivy title just four months after stepping on campus.

Former Dartmouth wide receiver David Shula gets a humorous mention in an update on Jim "Crash" Jensen, who spent 12 years with the Miami Dolphins. From a story in the Sun-Sentinel. The story says that Jensen survived ...

... "what he thought was a critical mistake during the Senior Bowl, a postseason college all-star game. Jensen threw a short pass to David Shula, who played receiver at Dartmouth College and is the son of former Dolphins coach Don Shula. The pass was a little high and the sure-handed Shula went up to make the catch, then got 'slammed' by the defense.

"I saw Coach Shula behind his son on the sidelines and I said, 'That's one team that's not going to draft me,' " Jensen said.

Earning an athletic scholarship may not be all it is cracked up to be. A disturbing Associated Press story reports about, "unkept promises and bottom-line decisions at odds with the definition of student-athlete." From the AP piece that details scholarships being revoked:

The NCAA says its rules are clear. Athletic scholarships are one-year, "merit-based" awards that require both demonstrated academic performance as well as "participation expectations" on the playing field.

Speaking of the big business of college sports, former Dartmouth football standout and head coach Jake Crouthamel is quoted in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story spun out of Big Ten expansion talks. From the story:

Jake Crouthamel, athletic director at Syracuse from 1978 to 2005, said he fully expects Pitt to join the Big Ten if it is invited.

"They're going to jump," he said. "It's about money. The whole thing's about money."

This one isn't about money. The University of New Hampshire is leaving a check on the table by walking away from a scheduled football game at Boston College. From an Allen Lessels column in the Manchester Union Leader:

On Friday, director of athletics Marty Scarano, while talking about the series at Gillette (Stadium) and football schedules, noted that UNH has opted out of a football game at Boston College that had been scheduled for the 2014 season.

"It was an uncomfortable situation for (head coach Sean McDonnell) to begin with," Scarano said. "He and his staff have close ties to BC. They go to the BC camp. We revisited it and decided not to enter into competition with them and they were good enough to let us out of it."

The Portsmouth Herald has a story about former UNH running back Chad Kackert's bid to make the Carolina Panthers. It seemed the 5-foot-8 speedster who the story says consistently clocks 4.31 in the 40 was always banged up when the Wildcats were playing Dartmouth, and that was probably not such a bad thing. For Dartmouth, at least.

And finally, in her last week of high school softball That Certain Hanover High Senior made a good run at hitting for the cycle for the first time yesterday. She got the hard part done, slamming a two-run homer and a triple (which would have been a second homer if she'd been given the green light at third base). She also reached on a hard-hit ground ball that was ruled an error. That might just have been reversed to a single (at least on this blog ;-) if the hard line drive she hit to left had been a little one way or the other and she had been able to leg it into a double. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to prevent a 7-2 loss for the still winless team.

First Preseason Magazine

It isn't even May June and first preseason magazine is out. Defending champion Penn is carrying the flag for the Ivy League at a surprising No. 13 ranking in the annual Athlon publication, now on grocery shelves everywhere.

It should be no surprise that Penn is the Ivy team getting the most love, but that the Quakers are starting out at No. 13 is a welcome show of respect for the Ancient Eight.

New Hampshire, which had been on the Big Green schedule for this fall until Sacred Heart bumped the Wildcats, is the only other current or recent Dartmouth opponent in the rankings, coming in at No. 14.

Defending national champion Villanova is No. 1.

Former Dartmouth assistant Pete Lembo has Elon at No. 6 in the Athlon rankings. Elon, by the way, is nicknamed the Phoenix and given Lembo's rebuilding success that seems fitting.

In the five years prior to Lembo's arrival, Elon went 14-42, winning as many as four games just one time. He's gone 29-17 with the Phoenix. Lembo's career record as a head coach at Elon and prior to that, at Lehigh:

Elon
2006 – 5-6
2007 – 7-4
2008 – 8-4
2009 – 9-3

Lehigh
2001 – 11-1
2002 – 8-4
2003 – 8-3
2004 – 9-3
2005 – 8-3

Career Total: 73-31 (.702)

Lembo coached tight ends and offensive tackles at Dartmouth and was on the staff when the Big Green went 10-0 in 1996. The 2001 Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year is also the answer to a trivia question he enjoys teasing people with:

Who played center at Georgetown between Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning?

The answer would be Lembo, and no, he's not 7-feet tall. But he was a Georgetown center. A football center. Trick question.

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Dartmouth defensive back Chad Hollis gives some "props" to former Big Green football players Chris Burns and Evan Nogay for their coaching of a sorority flag football team. Scroll to the end of this story in the Daily Dartmouth.

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How is Dartmouth baseball staying sharp in anticipation of the NCAA Tournament? The Daily Dartmouth has a story.

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Interesting story out of Princeton about how the school uses its waitlist. The Princetonian reports that perhaps 100 of the 900 applicants currently on the list will gain admission. Here's an excerpt from the story:

The admission office forms a committee to examine demographic deficiencies within the new class — academic, geographic and extracurricular — as students begin to matriculate and then turns to the waitlist to fill gaps, (Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye) said. “If we see that we need more electrical engineers or we’ve missed a few states or any instruments in the orchestra, we’ll go to the list. It’s really not that big given what we need to put together.”

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Kudos to the Hanover Green Machine youth baseball team for winning the Lebanon 3-Pitch Tournament over the weekend with a 6-1 record. It's a great group of kids that is a pure joy to coach. The Green Machine is 6-0 in league play at the midpoint of the season.

Like old friend Pete Lembo, the Green Machine is the answer to a pretty good trivia question: What youth baseball team has the sons of two former Olympians on the roster?

Of Wins and Losses

Scanning the record books I started wondering about where Dartmouth football stood in terms of wins and losses in Ivy League play since the conference began official competition in the 1956 seasons. Here's what I found:

Composite Ivy League Records Through the 2009 Season
1. Harvard 227-142-9 (.612)
2. Dartmouth 219-150-9 (.591)
3. Yale 219-151-8 (.589)
4. Princeton 205-168-5 (.549)
5. Penn 198-176-4 (.529)
6. Cornell 169-204-5 (.454)
7. Brown 159-212-7 (.429)
8. Columbia 88-285-5 (.239)

The Big Green will have to post a better Ivy League record than Yale this fall to avoid slipping into third place in the composite standings. That got me wondering how things have changed since Dartmouth's last Ivy League championship in the undefeated 1996 season:

Composite Ivy League Records Through the 1996 Season
1. Dartmouth 193-85-9 (.688)
2. Yale 169-110-8 (.602)
3. Princeton 164-118-5 (.580)
4. Harvard 158-120-9 (.566)
5. Penn 135-148-4 (.477)
6. Cornell 133-149-5 (.472)
7. Brown 104-176-7 (.374)
8. Columbia 66-216-5 (.238)

And of course the next step was to check the difference in winning percentage between the '96 season and 2009:

Difference
1. Brown +.055
2. Penn +.052
3. Harvard +.046
4. Columbia +.001
5. Yale -.013
6. Cornell -.018
7. Princeton -.040
8. Dartmouth -.097

Whether you are a Big Ten fan or not, Jay Paterno's column on the ramifications of possible expansion in the conference are worth noting. Paterno writes:

One thing is clear, this expansion process is being driven by two things: money and television. It is not about academics, it is not about making the conference more competitive, it is not about the welfare of the student-athletes. It is about money and television.

On a CBSMoneyWatch.com look at the "endowment policies of many of the nation's wealthiest universities," the accompanying photo is of Dartmouth's Baker Library. Lynn O'Shaughnessy doesn't pull her shots, writing about the study that sparked her column and a number of others:

"The study was partially funded by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents workers at several of the campuses. You can’t use this connection as an excuse, however, to dismiss what are clearly damning accusations that point to endowment policy models that beg for a saner and more ethical approach to investing.

"Here’s just one of the many findings in this thick report that I find appalling:

"Over the past five years, Dartmouth’s board has included more than a half dozen trustees whose firms have managed well over $100 million in investments for the institution. While Dartmouth insists that trustees recuse themselves from conflict of interests, I think it’s clear that this kind of self-dealing among trustees is dangerous and should not be allowed."

Wikipedia-Ing the Coaches

Seven of the eight Ivy League head football coaches have Wikipedia pages. (The only one missing is new Princeton coach Bob Surace.) Most are little more than a minimal bio and won-loss records although the pages for Dartmouth's Buddy Teevens and Cornell's Kent Austin are a little longer because of the stops they've made in their careers.

Wikipedia pages for Ivy League head football coaches:
Brown coach Phil Estes
Columbia coach Norries Wilson
Cornell coach Kent Austin
Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens
Harvard coach Tim Murphy
Penn coach Al Bagnoli
Yale coach Tom Williams

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New Hampshire is off the Dartmouth football schedule but it's still interesting to take a look at the bullet the Big Green is dodging this fall. There's some pretty thorough advance information on the Wildcats in the UNH CAA preview.

Speaking of which, it is May 20 and the 2010 CAA Preview website has been posted here. The site is interactive and allows media outlets to download the raw text in Word or Excel documents for use in newspapers, preseason magazines and on other sites. Very forward-thinking stuff.

The CAA also has a football blog, a Twitter page and a YouTube channel.

Other leagues could learn a thing or two about getting their product out in front of people by following the CAA lead.

The Stubbie Pearson Award

During halftime of the Dartmouth spring football game, junior wide receiver Tanner Scott was presented with the Stubbie Pearson Award. Perhaps because it is given in the spring – unlike the other team awards – it flies a little bit under the radar. From the Dartmouth press guide:

Established in 2007 and presented to an underclassman on the football team whose character, leadership on campus, high academic standing and performance on the playing field most resembles that of Charles (Stubby (sic)) Pearson '42, captain of the 1941 football team who died while serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II. He was also captain of basketball and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and valedictorian of his class. Gift of David Little '44 and Peter Little '81.

The reason for bringing up the Stubbie Pearson Award again is a note earlier this week out of the News-Press down in Fort Myers, Fla., that Stubbie's brother, Curt Pearson, 80, got a hole in one on the 144-yard, par-3 at Miromar Lakes. What makes it more interesting is that Curt Pearson's ace came on what would have been on Stubbie's 88th birthday, and the short capsule about the hole-in-one reprises the story of the former Dartmouth great.

That sent me off looking for a little more info on the older Pearson, whose name is spelled Stubbie. (It's wrong in a lot of places, including earlier BGA posts.) I found a page about him on the Minnesota Historical Society Minnesota's Greatest Generation site. Dartmouth's Rauner Special Collections Library also has a page that includes a picture and reference to his scrapbook, which the library has.

Previous winners of the Stubbie Pearson Award, by the way, were Andrew Dete and Timmy McManus.

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The Daily Dartmouth has a follow story on the college naming a search committee to help identify candidates for the athletic director position. Acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears told the school paper:

“It is consistent with Dartmouth practice to have a search committee in place, as they understand the specific needs and interest of the community. Once the firm has given us a pool, the committee will do selection processes and interviews and see whether the candidates are a match for us.”

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Former Dartmouth men's basketball player DeVon Mosley has been awarded a $10,000 Kathryn Wasserman Davis Project for Peace grant for a project. From a story in the Daily Dartmouth:

Through sports clinics, music lessons, and time and stress management workshops, Mosley's Desoto Peace Project aims to motivate at-risk youth to stay in school and resist gang membership.

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The intercollegiate weight room at Penn's new George A. Weiss Pavilion under the eaves of Franklin Field is already in use. From the school web page:

More than 18,000 square feet has been dedicated to Penn's varsity intercollegiate athletes, with state-of-the art equipment, running areas, and setups that are unique to the University.

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The Boston Globe takes a look at what it terms "risky" investments by money managers at Harvard and Dartmouth among others. The story is spun out of a study, "partially financed by the Service Employees International Union." From the story:

Large endowments like those at Harvard University and Dartmouth College took on too much risk and helped fuel Wall Street’s meltdown, according to a new report, which charges that such schools threatened their financial stability by abandoning their historic mission to preserve assets.

The Globe story then takes aim at Dartmouth. From the story:

The Dartmouth board, (Joshua Humphreys, a Harvard history lecturer) argues, is laden with conflicts of interest because a half dozen trustees work at firms that have managed more than $100 million of the endowment’s money.

Dartmouth defended its practices, saying it applies high ethical standards to the board of its $2.8 billion endowment.

“We see no reason to disadvantage Dartmouth financially by refraining from any investments’’ with ties to trustees that are legal and proper, the school said in a statement. “To do so when we are following appropriate ethical standards would do nothing more than negatively impact the returns on our endowment and the good work that we do with those returns.’’

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And finally, after yesterday's softball game the coach of the other team made it a point to pull that Certain Hanover High Senior aside and said of course she is going to play in college, right? No, she told him, she is going to run. He had some kind words for her and then told her that she really should play softball in college. (She very well might have if she'd decided to go to a Division III college, but Division I running coaches aren't very keen on their athletes switching sports for the spring.)

Anyway, today is Senior Day for the Hanover High team and it will be difficult for at least one onlooker. I missed Senior Day for cross country because of Dartmouth football and there really wasn't much of a Senior Day for indoor track because she had qualified for New Englands and we already knew she would run in college. But this is different.

This will bring back memories of all those sweet days out in the yard playing catch. About helping a little girl learn not just to "throw like a boy," (sorry about that) but better than an awful lot of them. About her turning her nose up at softball and playing baseball with the boys right up until ninth grade. About her returning to baseball to play Babe Ruth in the summer after ninth grade softball and this doubtful dad thinking there was no way she was going to catch up to a fastball in her first game back against a hard-throwing 6-foot-2 pitcher only to see her line a shot to center field in her first at-bat.

It will bring back memories of her explaining the "double switch," learning how to keep a detailed scorebook and soaking up the rules to such an extent that last week she was able to get the umpires to change a decision, a development that was chronicled in the newspaper story about the game. Life goes on and and it will be fun to see her run in college, but you'll have to excuse me late this afternoon ( 6 p.m. actually) if I shed a tear or two.

AD Search Firm Chosen

From a Dartmouth public affairs release:

Parker Executive Search, an Atlanta-based firm that recently oversaw the search for a new president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), will assist Dartmouth College with its search for a new Director of Athletics and Recreation, Acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears announced today.

And ...

Spears said representatives from Parker will visit Dartmouth’s campus at the beginning of June to meet with the search committee and with members of the Dartmouth community, including students, faculty, staff and alumni, to learn more about the College’s unique culture. “After these meetings we will work with them to finalize and post a job description,” said Spears, adding that she anticipates appointing the successful candidate prior to the start of the academic year in September.

Pidermann Keeping Busy

Busy times for Dartmouth senior Peter Pidermann, a second team All-Ivy League pick at free safety last fall. Pidermann has added a new sport to his resume as a member of the Dartmouth squad that will compete in the inaugural USA Sevens Rugby Collegiate Championship Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, on June 4-6. Pidermann is one of 12 players traveling for the Big Green.

Dartmouth's schedule features games against Notre Dame on Friday, and Harvard and Cal on Saturday (the latter game live on NBC at 5 p.m.). Sunday's action will include either the Cup or Challenge quarters, semis and finals, with the final carried live on NBC at 5:15 p.m.

In addition to Dartmouth, the 16-team invitational includes Arizona, Arizona State, Army, Bowling Green, Cal, Florida, Harvard, Indiana, Navy, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, San Diego State, Tennessee and Utah. The event will be televised live on NBC and Universal Sports both days from 2-6 p.m.

Pidermann is also weighing football opportunities in Europe beginning in mid-June or early July. He may join a team to finish up this season and then return to Europe next January to play a full season after doing the LSAT thing next fall.

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News releases announcing schedules at this level can be pretty "un-newsworthy" stuff unless there are significant changes, a la Dartmouth, Colgate and Bucknell. That said, the Harvard schedule release is worth looking at for two reasons. First, the overhead picture of Harvard Stadium shows just how glorious that facility can look when it is filled for The Game.

And second, the release reminds us again that Harvard lets all children 12-and-under in for free (except for The Game). Smart.

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Speaking of stadiums – stadia – the University of New Hampshire will be playing in two of the best and one of the worst this fall. The best? Two NFL facilities: Gillette Stadium, where it will play Massachusetts the next two years, and Heinz Field, where it will put a run of consecutive FBS victories on the line against Pitt. The worst? Its own Cowell Stadium.

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The recent statistical look at Dartmouth teams in the era of formal Ivy League play reminded one reader of the 1987 Sports Illustrated look back at the Big Green's legendary 1970 squad that beat out Penn State for the Lambert Trophy, emblematic of Eastern supremacy. This has been posted here before, but it is worth repeating. When Joe Paterno suggested (as the SI story says with "tongue-in-cheek") that the Nittany Lions and Big Green settle on the field who is the better team, Dartmouth coach Bob Blackman responded:

"Of course, Coach Paterno knows that under Ivy League rules we're not allowed to play in a postseason game, but if we were allowed to play a postseason contest, I would prefer to play a team that had a better record."

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And finally, the rest of the day will be spent transcribing interviews as I get started on another personal history project. Last week I finally delivered nine copies of an 8x11 format, 80-page hardcover book to the daughter of Dartmouth '60 who wanted her father's story told. Neat story, but with a series of interviews, lots of typing, scanning of photos, designing and revising, that was a ton of work. If only I charged people for the amount of time I actually put in on projects. Of course, then I wouldn't get any business ;-)

Largest Point Differentials

Building on this week's posts about Dartmouth's 10 highest scoring seasons in the Ivy League era (1956-forward) and 10 stingiest defenses in the same era, today features the 10 best point differentials over the same span with the year, average differential, record and head coach.

1970 – 29.9 (9-0) Bob Blackman
1965 – 22.2 (9-0) Blackman
1969 – 20.3 (8-1) Blackman
1962 – 19.9 (9-0) Blackman
1996 – 17.1 (10-0) John Lyons
1992 – 16.1 (8-2) Lyons
1966 – 15.7 (7-2) Blackman
1976 – 13.9 (6-3) Jake Crouthamel
1971 – 11.2 (8-1) Crouthamel
1964 – 11.1 (6-3) Blackman

In case you were wondering ... the 1970 team outscored its nine opponents, 311-42. That's the second-most points scored by Dartmouth since the start of formal Ivy League play in 1956, topped only by the 364 the Big Green scored in 1992. The '92 team gave up 203 points.

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Penn's roster has been updated (link) with the addition of the incoming freshman class. Among the members of the Class of 2014 profiled is 6-foot-4, 190-pound wide receiver Conner Scott. He happens to be the younger brother of 6-4, 190-pound Dartmouth senior receiver Tanner Scott.

Brown has posted a release on its 2010 schedule that includes information on the first night game in the history of 85-year-old Brown Stadium. The Homecoming game against Harvard on Sept. 25 will kick off at 6 p.m. The release notes:

Four banks of Musco lights will illuminate Brown Stadium, with two banks of temporary lights towering above the stadium on either side of the field.

Brown coach Phil Estes:

“Our team is really excited about playing Harvard at night and making history. When it was announced to our players a rousing cheer went up. We're going to have a great crowd, it's exciting and there's something special about a night game. We've excited to give our players and fans an opportunity to experience this historic event.”

I could be wrong but given that it is the first night game in stadium history, it's early enough in the season that the weather should be warm, it's Homecoming and it's against Harvard, it would be a surprise to me if that game doesn't come close to selling out the 20,000 seat facility.

(In case you are wondering, the Musco Lighting folks contacted the Dartmouth sports information office some years ago to build a file on Memorial Field in the event that the college ever wanted to host a night game. It hasn't happened yet.)

Yesterday's mention of a heralded fullback in the Bucknell recruiting class sent me scurrying to take a look at the incoming Bison class only to discover nothing official has been released. Given the coaching change out in Lewisburg, that isn't a huge surprise. If you are curious about freshmen who might be on the other side of the field when the Big Green kicks off the season on Sept. 18, check out this unofficial recruiting list on the Lehigh Football Nation site.

And finally ... that Certain Hanover High Sophomore started driver training yesterday and while a lot of boys would be thrilled at the prospect, this one takes after his old man a bit and sounds as if he could do without a car if possible. He said they watched some pretty scary videos in the first classroom session but they didn't watch the infamous Signal 30, which seemed ancient even back when I was in high school.

Defensively Speaking ...

Following up on yesterday's post about Dartmouth's 10 highest scoring seasons in the Ivy League era (1956-forward) today will feature the 10 best defensive seasons with the year, average points allowed, record and head coach.

1970 – 4.67 (9-0) Bob Blackman
1962 – 6.33 (9-0) Blackman
1960 – 7.33 (5-4) Blackman
1965 – 7.89 (9-0) Blackman
1957 – 8.56 (7-1-1) Blackman
1958 – 9.22 (7-2) Blackman
1979 – 9.56 (4-4-1) Joe Yukica
1956 – 9.89 (5-3-1) Blackman
1996 – 10.40 (10-0) John Lyons
1963 – 10.44 (7-2) Blackman

The guess here is you are having a hard time believing how the 1979 team that allowed 9.56 points per game finished with just a .500 record. Turns out that while the Big Green allowed 86 points it scored just 98, or 10.89 points per game.

The 1960 team allowed just over one touchdown per game, but finished only one game above the break-even mark because it, too, scored just 98 points.

And in case you were wondering ...

The 1970 team's scores:
Massachusetts 27-0
at Holy Cross 50-14
Princeton 38-0
Brown 42-14
at Harvard 37-14
at Yale 10-0
Columbia 55-0
at Cornell 24-0
at Penn 28-0

The 1962 team that ranks as Dartmouth's next-stingiest since 1956 actually got off to a better start than the '70 team before a couple of letdowns at the end.

The 1962 team's scores:
Massachusetts 22-3
Penn 17-0
at Brown 41-0
Holy Cross 10-0
at Harvard 24-6
at Yale 9-0
Columbia 42-0
at Cornell 28-21
at Princeton 38-27

In case you were wondering, through seven games the '62 Big Green had allowed just nine points, which translates to 1.29 points per game.

Craig Haley writes about his Top 10 running backs in the FCS for next fall on The Sports Network site. Colgate's Nate Eachus is on the list. But for the third year in a row the Big Green will miss the Raider standout, who vaulted onto the national scene against Cornell as a freshman when he started the game at linebacker, moved to running back shortly before halftime because of an injury, and still piled up 241 yards rushing.

Eachus hadn't yet carried the ball when Colgate played Dartmouth during his freshman year, was hurt when the teams played last September, and will be dreaming of playing in the Carrier Dome against Syracuse when the Big Green opens at Bucknell – instead of Colgate – this year. As a fan, it would be fun to get a chance to see him when the Raiders visit Hanover in 2011.

Then again, it's not that Bucknell doesn't have an interesting back to keep an eye on. The Bison will featured a 6-foot-2, 233-pound freshman fullback named Travis Friend who was chosen for the legendary Pennsylvania-Ohio Big 33 game. He also made the Associated Press all-state Class AAAA team in Pennsylvania. Find a story about him here.

Dartmouth catcher Chris O'Dowd was chosen as the Ivy League's co-rookie of the year in baseball. Although the Big Green won it's second Ivy title in as many years it didn't land anyone on the all-conference first team, which is kind of mind-boggling. Must be a pretty good t-e-a-m, huh?

With the NCAA's still a few weeks away, Dartmouth is doing what it can to stay sharp. Last year the Big Green picked up games with the Patriot League champion during the interim between the ILCS and the NCAA's. Upsets in this year's Patriot League playoffs will see No. 3 seed Holy Cross playing host to No. 4 seed Bucknell Friday and Saturday. Should the Crusaders hold serve it might make picking up a game or two easier.

Congratulations to the Dartmouth crew program which had both a tremendous upset as well as solid performances in a number of boats at Eastern Sprints. Find a story here.

And finally, that Certain Hanover High Senior is back from her trip to Montreal and Quebec City with her honors French class. For their final project they separated into teams and videotaped French interviews with people on the street. She told me last night her team asked a doorman at the imposing Le Château Frontenac about the most famous musician he'd held the door for (Paul McCartney). They interviewed a street performer and shouted questions up to a window-washer while the camera was rolling. They tried interviewing another fellow only to discover he was from Australia. They ordered their crepes breakfast in French and sat for a family style dinner at a sugar house on the way home. How come high school wasn't like that when I went?

Columbia Assistant Tapped by Williams

The new Williams College head football coach is Aaron Kelton, the defensive coordinator at Columbia the past two season and the Lions' secondary coach the previous two years. Joining Columbia coach Norries Wilson in offering quotes about Kelton is former Dartmouth assistant KiJuan Ware, a former Fullbright Scholar and now the running backs coach at Miami (Ohio). Said KiJuan:

“When I visited Springfield College as a prospective student-athlete I saw Aaron’s picture on the wall as an African-American quarterback and I said to myself, that’s going to be me.

“Throughout our careers we’ve stayed in constant contact – bouncing ideas and suggestions off each other, talking football, and coaching the game.

“Aaron is a leader in every sense of the word. Every place he’s coached his defensive unit has been nationally ranked and the kids love to play for him. He will make it exciting for the Williams players for sure.

“We’ve been close friends for a long time. He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with in the NESCAC. He’ll bring a new energy to Williams football. I’m going to enjoy following his teams.”

Good Points

It's a quiet Monday in the IvyFootballSphere so here's a list of the 10 highest scoring seasons for Dartmouth since the official formation of the Ivy League (with the year, scoring average, record and head coach):

1992 – 36.4 (8-2) John Lyons
1970 – 34.6 (9-0) Bob Blackman
1969 – 31.3 (8-1) Blackman
1966 – 30.3 (7-2) Blackman
1965 – 30.1 (9-0) Blackman
1972 – 28.9 (7-1-1) Jake Crouthamel
1991 – 28.3 (7-2-1) Buddy Teevens
1996 – 27.5 (10-0) Lyons
2007 – 27.1 (3-7) Teevens
1993 – 25.8 (7-3) Lyons

The Daily Dartmouth Sportsweekly has a Q&A with sprinter Muhammed Abdul-Shakoor, who played three years of cornerback for the Dartmouth football team. Find his football bio here.

The college has received a $35 million gift that the Associated Press writes will go toward opening, "a center it hopes will help the nation take the next big steps in health care reform: improving quality while lowering costs." The donor wishes to remain anonymous.

Dartmouth's just-concluded Green Key weekend saw no alcohol-related arrests this year as a result of a policy change by Hanover police. The Daily Dartmouth has a story.

Is Football Ready to Turn the Corner?

The local daily recently had a Q&A with Bob Ceplikas, Dartmouth's acting director of athletics. The full Q&A is now posted on the Dartmouth website. A couple of excerpts from the article:

Valley News: And what about football? Are you finally going to turn the corner?
Bob Ceplikas: Absolutely. Rick Taylor had been involved in turning around three Division I football programs when we hired him last spring to do a soup-to-nuts review of our program. He concluded we're already a lot closer than our record suggests, given our facility improvements, admissions support, and our strong freshman and sophomore classes. Rick's top recommendation was to ramp up our annual friends giving to match the other Ivies, and we've accomplished that. And we've brought in two outstanding, very experienced guys as offensive and defensive coordinators.

I truly think we'll turn some heads in the Ivy League this fall.

And ...

Valley News: Do you feel the recent series on Dartmouth athletics (in the Valley News) accurately reflected the attitudes of the college administration toward promoting winning programs and the direction of the athletic department toward providing a winning program?
Bob Ceplikas: Absolutely not. I understand the negative perception out there, because two of our highest-profile programs -- football and men's basketball -- have really struggled. But it's clearly a departmental and institutional priority to turn those programs around, and I think we're much better positioned to do so than we've been in a very long time. The recent articles might also reflect that some of our traditionally strong programs have been rebuilding this year. But if you take a step back and look at how much more success men's hockey, soccer, and baseball have had in the last 5-6 years than they had for many years before that, and you see how we've maintained our tradition of excellence in women's basketball, hockey, lacrosse, and soccer over that stretch, I'm incredibly optimistic that our latest initiatives have laid the groundwork for more successful teams across the board.

*

Dartmouth baseball coach Bob Whalen is pictured in a story in the Boston Globe about Whalen and outfielder Sam Bean – both Needham, Mass., natives – helping the Big Green to its second Ivy League championship in a row. A good quote from the Dartmouth skipper:

“One of the things I said to the team on Sunday after winning the championship is that one of the hardest things in life is to do what everyone expects you to be able to do. In sports, that thing is defending a title. And this was one of the toughest and most resilient teams I’ve ever had.’’

*

When Rick Sowell was lacrosse coach at Dartmouth he engineered a remarkable turnaround that saw a Big Green team that was 0-6 in the Ivy League in 2002 go 5-1 and tie for its first conference championship in 38 years the next spring. Sowell moved on to St. John's the next year and is now at Stony Brook where he guided the No. 8 Seawolves to a 9-7 win over Denver and former Princeton coach Bill Tierney yesterday in the NCAA Tournament. (link)

*

One of the advantages of living in Northern New England: That Certain Hanover High Senior is on a bus with French classmates this morning headed to Montreal and then Quebec City to use the language skills they've been honing since elementary school.

Speaking of Montreal and Quebec City, anyone coming to Hanover for a long football weekend in the fall might want to think about a sidetrip over the border. Old Montreal is wonderful and you can get there in just 3 1/2 hours. If you fly into Burlington you can be in Montreal in two hours. Quebec City is 4 1/2 hours from Hanover but well worth the drive. The walled city is the closest you'll come to feeling you are in Europe in all of North America.

Recruiting List

A list of football players who have been accepted at Dartmouth in this admissions cycle:*
(Positions are subject to change)

OFFENSE
Offensive Line

• Cameron Colwell, 6-4, 275, Xaverian HS, Mass.
• Sanders Davis, 6-4, 275, Catholic HS (Baton Rouge) La.
• Cohle Fowler, 6-6, 315, Verdigris School (Claremore) Okla.
• Brett Kana, 6-4, 276, Bishop Guertin HS, N.H.
• Aaron Mondshine, 6-5, 270, Pine Crest HS, Fla.

Tight End/H-Back

• Luke Dornak,6-4, 250, St. Joseph HS (Victoria), Texas
• Ed Kingsley, 6-5, 210, St. Sebastian’s, Mass.
• Dean Bakes, 6-2, 240, Hotchkiss School, Conn.

Wide Receiver

• Dana Barbaro 6-2, 185, St. Augustine (San Diego), Calif.
• Peter Calvanelli 6-2, 175, Delbarton School, N.J.
• Joseph Dowdell, 6-3, 190, Bishop Kelley HS, Okla.
• Jimmy Johnson, 5-11, 195, Andover HS, Mass.
• Austin Katigan, 5-9, 172, Casady School, Okla.
• Edward von Kuhn, 6-4, 195, Phillips Andover (Birmingham), Ala.

Running Back

• Daniel Henggeler, 5-11, 205, West Torrance HS, Calif.
• John Higgins, 5-8, 190, New Trier HS, Ill.
• David Daines, 6-1, 202, Weber HS, Utah#
• Ryan Paganetti, 5-10, 206, Belmont Hill School, Mass.
• Dominick Pierre, 6-0, 200, Calvary Christian (Fort Lauderdale), Fla.

Quarterback

• Andrew Gay, 6-4, 200, Jackson HS (Mill Creek), Wash.
• Cole Marcoux, 6-5, 234, Fieldston School, N.Y.

DEFENSE
Interior Line

• Julian Flamer, 6-0, 266, Charlotte Country Day, NC (Hofstra)
• Martin Pomykala, 6-2, 250, New Britain HS, Conn.
• Ethan Posey, 6-2, 255, Lawrence HS, N.J.

Defensive End

• Max Kingsley, 6-5, 225, St. Sebastian’s, Mass.
• Robbie Rodriguez, 6-3, 215, Torrey Pines HS, Calif.
• Steve Stafford, 6-3, 225, Evangelical Christian School, Tenn.

Linebacker

• Hunter Foraker, 6-1, 230, Mullen HS (Denver), Colo.
• Michael Runger, 6-2, 210, Benet Academy (Lisle), Ill.
• Bronson Green, 6-1, 215, Loyola (Los Angeles), Calif.

Defensive Back

• Philip Schmidt, 5-11, 180, Benet Academy (Lisle), Ill.
• AJ Dettorre, 5-10, 165, Moorpark HS, Calif.
• Trevor Niemann, 6-foot, 175, Chadwick School, Calif.
• Clay Robbins, 5-11, 166, Menlo (Palo Alto), Calif.
• Mike Banaciski, 5-11, 185, Hillsborough HS, N.J.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Punter

• Daniel Barstein, 6-1, 175, Mountain Brook HS, Ala.

Long Snapper

• William Connolly (linebacker), 6-1, 230, St. Sebastian’s School, Mass.

* Note: Includes recruits as well as accepted student-athletes intending to play football
# Planning to spend next two years on a Mormon Mission

Elsewhere in recruiting ...

• Princeton's freshman class is listed here.
• As noted earlier, Harvard's class is listed here.
• No official word on the Columbia class, but Jake Novak at Roar Lions Roar has an unofficial Columbia list here.

Outside of the Ivy League ...

• The Holy Cross list is here.
• The Sacred Heart list is here.
• It won't matter for another year, but the Colgate list is here.

On the AD Search

In the early days of Saturday Night Live there was a running gag that included Chevy Chase issuing the same punchline each week, "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead."

That line came to mind this morning when I read a Daily Dartmouth story on the search for a new Dartmouth director of athletics that the story says still hasn't started. From the story:

According to (Acting Dean) Spears, the College is now in a position to begin the process. The first step will be hiring a search firm to assist in identifying candidates, she added.

“We anticipate launching the search in the very near future,” Spears said. “A lot of logistics are still being ironed out.”

The College has not made a decision regarding which search firm it will hire, she said.

“We’ve been talking to a few search firms, looking for the right match for Dartmouth,” Spears said. “As soon as we make that decision, then all of a sudden you’ll see probably lots of activity around the AD search.”

I'm not privy to the inner workings of the search, but the Daily Dartmouth had a story about Harper's decision on Jan. 14, 2009. That's 16 months ago today.

*

The local daily has a story wrapping up spring practice. From the story:

The most glaring question heading into the 2010 season is: Who will be Dartmouth's quarterback? In addition, the Big Green seems to be a step slow in executing the revamped attack configured by new offensive coordinator Jim Pry, although teams' defensive units are often ahead of their offensive counterparts in spring ball.

Throw in five lengthy road trips in 2010 and the fact that not even a miracle worker might be able to turn Dartmouth's defense around in a matter of months and Dartmouth may still find itself struggling for victories.

*

The Brown Bear Blogger lists his Top 12 FCS running backs in the country for next fall and sneaks Dartmouth's Nick Schwieger into the final spot. It would be a surprise if Craig Haley over at The Sports Network includes Schwieger when he gets around to his top running backs, but it says here that No. 22 definitely belongs in the conversation.

*

The Daily Pennsylvanian has an interactive chart on Ivy League "yield rates," for the Class of 2014 around the Ivy League. Click on the school and up will come the rate from the class of 2009 forward. To the untrained eye it doesn't seem there's all that much difference year to year (although Dartmouth's jumped 7 percent this spring). Of more interest, perhaps, is the difference from school to school.

Dartmouth alum Jacques Steinberg, writing in the New York Times, had this to day about yield and what it means to the waitlist:

Dartmouth, my alma mater, said its yield this spring was 55 percent. That is a 7 percentage point increase over last year — a jump so large that no applicant may be admitted from the waiting list this year, according to Maria Laskaris, the dean of admissions and financial aid.

A year ago Dartmouth took 95 students off the list. Penn, according to a story in the Daily P, took 100 last year and will probably take 10-15 this year.

*

Talk of Big Ten expansion has included mention of the fact that the Big Ten schools are members of the Association of American Universities. From a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story about the chance that Missouri will be tapped by the Big Ten:

The university offers a broad base of programs, including a world-renowned journalism school, and is a 102-year member of the 63-school Association of American Universities — a distinction of research commitment that marks all 11 Big Ten schools and is considered a baseline for Big Ten membership.

That sent me scurrying to the Association of American Universities website to see who those 63 schools are. It turns out that seven Ivy League schools are members. The only one that isn't? Dartmouth.

Is it because Dartmouth isn't – by name at least – a university? I don't know.

In Other Sports News ...

The Detroit Free Press has an in depth look at one of Dartmouth's new basketball assistants. If the name Beilein is familiar it probably means you are a college basketball fan.

Former Dartmouth standout Nick Santomauro, who signed with the New York Mets after last season, is the subject of a story down in Savannah after snapping out of an early slump.

Academic Progress

The annual Academic Progress Rate report has been issued by the NCAA. From a Dartmouth release:

This year 22 of Dartmouth College’s varsity teams received public recognition from the NCAA for having Academic Progress Rate scores among the top 10 percent nationally in their respective sport.

The Big Green stand second nationally in number of teams honored by the NCAA for the fourth year in a row.

From the NCAA release:

For the fourth consecutive year, Yale University had the most teams (24) recognized, followed by Dartmouth College (22) and the University of Pennsylvania (20). By conference, the Ivy Group had the most number of teams honored (135), followed by the Patriot League (90) and the Big East Conference (70).

Well-deserved kudos to Dartmouth and the Ivy League for running broad-based athletic programs and doing it the right way. That being said, there probably needs to be a huge asterisk regarding the Ivy League holding down eight of the top 20 spots.

With 24, 22 and 20, the top three Ivy League schools on the list have more teams recognized than a great many – and probably most – other schools even field.

I couldn't find a link on the NCAA.org with the number of varsity teams fielded per school so I went to a representative cross-section of school websites and counted the sports they listed. In no particular order, here's what I found:

Butler 15
Gonzaga 16
Colorado State 13
NC State 22
UNH 18
Central Michigan 14
Quinnipiac 18
Houston 14
Montana 14
Seton Hall 16
Providence 17
Penn State 27

So while the Ivies are doing just fine thank you, using the raw number of recognized teams really is a little misleading. Better would be the percentage of a school's teams that are above the threshold.

But I digress. To find Dartmouth's team-by-team listing and the top-10 schools in terms of the raw number of teams recognized, check out another Dartmouth release. To search by sport, conference, school or some combination of the three, click here.

The Ivy League champion Dartmouth baseball team has scheduled a couple of games to stay sharp looking ahead to the NCAAs. Local fans can get a bonus look at the Big Green Friday when it entertains Division III Castleton State from western Vermont at 3 p.m. (The Spartans have made the Division III NCAAs.) Dartmouth will travel to Boston College Sunday for a 12:30 p.m. game.

The second annual 5K Cully's Run to benefit The National Eating Disorders Association will be held May 23 starting at the Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse. Find more information here.

I had to laugh reading a Daily Dartmouth story yesterday about a talk given by Jay Parini. I wish I'd known he was going to be on campus because I recently read and enjoyed his book Robert Frost: A Life. Anyway, what made me laugh was how the lede to the story and the photo caption referred to Parini as, "Former Dartmouth professor." Absolutely true. He taught at Dartmouth from 1975-82. But he's been a well-known professor at Middlebury ever since then and that is never mentioned.

One of the neat things about living in a college community is having the chance to hear speakers like Parini. Today at 4:30 BBC Foreign Correspondent James Reynolds will be at 3 Rockefeller Hall giving a talk entitled, "Stuff Them Or Shoot Them - The Future Of The Foreign Correspondent." As someone who was taught some of the ins and outs of being a foreign correspondent while studying journalism in grad school – where did I go wrong? – I'm intrigued. I'll have to choose between that and optional batting practice for my Little League team ;-)